Fractured
by Ritu
Summary: What happens when you know someone is yours with a feeling so strong it's like a fire lit in your very soul? Ask Mikan. She has been dreaming about a man whom she knows is hers. Now if only she could find him. But WHO and where exactly is he?
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: Here is the first chapter of a short story. It is sort of inspired by a friend of mine. He would never belive it _he _inspired this story. Enjoy!**

**Full Summary: What happens when you know someone is yours with a feeling so strong it;s like a fire lit in your very soul? Ask Mikan. She has been dreaming about a man for a week whom she knows is hers. Now if only she could find him. But he just isn't that easy to find.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

I have to find him. He's mine!

I have to really really find him! He's seriously MINE!

I have searched everywhere but I cannot find him. He was not where I work. He was not where I studied. He was not where I jogged in the park, he was not at the swimming pool.

He is not at the clubs, not at the parties.

I feel hollow for I cannot even whisper his name on cold nights. Because I have no idea what his name is.

I search and I search. I can never find him.

"Are you okay Mikan?" my friend asked.

"Yes." I answered, even as my eyes searched for that elusive face. I wanted what was mine.

"What are you looking for?"

"You won't understand." I said distractedly.

"Try me. You've been like this all week."

"Well he's been at it all week." I snapped and she stared at me with raised eyebrows.

"Who?"

"You don't know him. Hell, I don't know him." I retorted.

"Mikan, you're scaring me."

I turned to look back at her. I clutched my hands together.

"I know. I am scaring me too. I dream every night, and I dream the same thing. This guy is there. And I know that he is mine in some way, and every night I wake up before I can get to him, so every time I wake, I am craving him. Like a junkie, I am craving a guy who does not even freaking exist." I snapped, my voice getting louder with each word until I was yelling.

She was staring at me open mouthed.

"Uh.. Mikan..."

"I'm going home." I said coldly, and grabbed my purse before storming out of the cafe.

I got outside when it hit me again.

It was like a full sucker punch in my gut. I could see nothing but him. He was chained in the distance, in a wasteland of a world. A strange mist swirled around him, and his head was bowed.

I needed him to look up. I needed to see his face.

I needed to know what he looked like so I could find him.

"LOOK UP!" I screamed at him, but he did not hear me. Could not hear me.

I could feel myself slipping, but I knew I just had to hold on a little bit longer, and I would be able to make him look up. But I was too weak.

The world went dark.

* * *

><p>"She has not been sleeping well. That's all. Weakness and sleep deprivation. A little rest and she'll be as good as new." The Doctor was talking to my Uncle.<p>

I sighed as I stared at the IV stuck in my arm.

It was annoying.

I closed my eyes, but his image was burned into my mind. I had dreamed of him all my life, but in bits and pieces. Little snatches that I would not allow to intrude upon my life.

But all that changed a week ago. Now I was dreaming of him, like never before.

I was doing it even when I was awake. I was confusing my reality. That was so not good.

Still, all I could think was that I needed to see his face.

I needed him free.

I needed him.

"How're you Mikan?" My Uncle Narumi asked. I've been living with him since my parents died in a car crash two years ago.

"Is there something about my parents, my birth, or me in general that you should tell me?" I asked him.

"No. Are you feeling loopy from all the sleep meds?" He asked smiling.

"No. I just want back what is mine." I answered, and to me it made perfect sense.

_"She's talking about taking back what is hers... That cannot be right. We thought that she would not remember anything... She turned eighteen a week ago. There was nothing before that... Maybe it was just the meds talking." My Uncle was trying to be quiet while he talked on the phone, but my hearing has always been real good._

_"Yes. Maybe it's best if we keep her under for a while until this phase passes away." He muttered._

_I hadn't bothered opening my eyes so I didn't have to close them now. I just waited until I heard him leave. Then I left too. It was not that hard, especially since my normal clothes were in the cupboard._

I had to find him. Soon.

I was two blocks from the hospital when the world started shifting again. I could see him.

I was not making the same mistake again. I ran into an alley and hid behind a dumpster. If I fainted, I was not going to be found easy.

I could still see him. No matter how I moved in this world, that one was unaffected. Like... Like I was it's axis.

I stared at him. He was still looking down.

I suddenly knew what would make him look up.

"MINE!" I yelled at him with all my strength.

He looked up, and my startled brown eyes met ruby red eyes. His face was beautiful, yet you would never mistake him for a woman. His hair I knew had been black, but it took on a life of its own when it framed his face. He had a long nose, a strong chin, and high cheek bones. It was a face you would not forget as long as you lived.

I extended my hand to him.

He was chained, but I knew he could break those chains.

For me, he could do much much more than that.

How did I know that?

No idea.

I just knew.

He slowly stood up. He was at least six feet tall. He was dressed in Arabian clothes, as if he had been taken in from the desert and then chained. He lightly shook himself and the chains fell away.

He tossed his head, and his hear fell behind him. It was only now I realized that his hair was waist long. He calmly walked towards me. His eyes were glittering, and as he walked, his clothing changed.

The desert boots turned to designer boots, the loose pants turned to jeans. The flowing shirt became a silk shirt, but it was still half open. His hair flowed behind him like a dark sheet, and a single ruby ring appeared on his right hand.

He was almost in front of me.

"Are you mine?" I whispered.

"Irrevocably." He told me with a small smile.

"Good. I was waiting, and it hurt." I whispered, and somehow I wanted him to hug me, and I wanted to cry my eyes out, as if I had truly, really loved him, and was seeing him after a really really long time.

He knelt in front of me.

"I promised not to look at anything, not the sun, not the stars, not the moon, and not the sky, until you claimed me as yours again. I fulfilled my promise milady." He said softly, looking into my eyes.

"How long?" I asked.

"Just a few millennia. Do not fret. Now you are finally back." He murmured.

"Millennia..."

"It was nothing. Tell me, how are you?" he asked.

"You know that I do not remember anything. I just know that you're somehow an integral part of me." I told him.

He smiled. "My apologies. I am called Natsume. What is your name milady?"

"Mikan Sakura." I answered.

"Well Mikan, would you like to go back to your world? The wasteland is not really a good place." He asked.

"Uh yeah, okay." I nodded, and just like that we were in the alley, behind the dumpster.

He looked around curiously. "Umm, we should get away from here." I told him.

He nodded, and allowed me to lead us out of there. I was still wobbly from the drugs and from my fainting spree, but adrenaline is a wonderful thing. So is having a gorgeous but clueless man with you.

I was halfway home before I realized that it may not be such a good idea. I turned to Natsume.

"Umm Natsume.. we have a problem." Then I proceeded to tell him about the conversation I had over heard.

"I don't know who was on the other end of the phone, but I don't know if we can go home or not." I finished.

He stared at me for a long moment, before he nodded.

"I am not equipped to understand you. Will you allow me access to your memories so that I understand you better? As it stands, I do not know what phone means. I am sure that such problems will keep coming up. Of course, if you could take me where I can have access to scrolls, that will be fine too."

"Scrolls? Oh you mean books... I have to introduce you to a computer. You know what.. learn what you can from me, and then you'll know how you can learn more." I said confidently.

"I will try not to access your personal memories. Whatever I see, you will too." He said gently, before he stepped close. I looked up at him. I didn't know him. He was not human. He could be anything. I still trusted him. Blindly.

He did try to not learn the personal stuff, but he did go through the phone conversation. I was feeling very fuzzy at the end of this, and he picked me up like I weighed nothing.

"We go home." He said decisively.

"I found you like this, and you asked me to bring you home. That is our story. You go through your scolding, and then go upstairs to your room. Then I sneak in through the window. All right?" he asked.

"All right." I answered, feeling faint. What was it now, thrice, in a day? Yuck!

"I'll heal you when I see you upstairs." He told me kindly.

"Mmm Humm." I muttered.

* * *

><p>"Mikan!" Uncle Narumi cried out as soon as he opened the door. He allowed Natsume to carry me in.<p>

"I was so worried. What were you thinking, running away from the hospital like that. Who does that? I am taking you right back!" He said angrily, but I could see the relief and genuine concern on his face.

"I don't like it there. I'll get better at home. All I need is sleep. Even the Doc said so." I told him from where I was lying down on the sofa.

"Maybe you should let her stay at home. She'll probably run away again." Natsume said in his quiet voice.

"Who're you?" My Uncle asked, as if noticing him for the first time.

"I found her, and when she asked me to, I brought her home. Won't you let her stay home, Sir?" he asked politely.

Uncle Narumi frowned at him, then sighed in defeat.

"You would only run away again, right Mikan?" he asked and I nodded. "You sure you're okay?" he asked again, and I nodded again.

"Okay. Let me help you go up to your room. Then I'll call the hospital." He said, looking exasperated.

"If you like I can carry her to her room." Natsume asked. I could see my Uncle debating. Let a strange guy go up to my room, but one who could easily carry me, or he could support me, but I would have to take some of my weight. The lesser evil would win.

"Please. It's right up the stairs." He said, finally deciding. I guess my well being trumped the rules.

Natsume carried me easily. He used his nifty magic to change me from my street clothes into Pj's and then he went back downstairs. I heard him talk to my Uncle before he left the house.

Then my Uncle came up.

"I called them and told them you came home. You're okay and you won't be coming back to the hospital. I'll go there tomorrow morning to take care of the formalities." He told me, as she stroked my hair back.

"You changed clothes awfully quick." He frowned.

"See, not as sick as you think."

He chuckled. "I see that. So you found yourself quite a knight in shining armour. You know him?"

"Yes." I answered truthfully.

"He looked older than you."

"He is."

"Okay. Just _be careful_." He patted my forehead and went downstairs, closing the door gently behind him. I guess whatever he wanted to say about Natsume was going to wait until he thought I was feeling up to it.

* * *

><p>I counted to five, before Natsume was there. He sat on the edge of my bed, and reached up to lay his palm on my forehead. Instantly I felt better. As in, I could run the marathon, better.<p>

"Do you really believe that I am yours?" he asked, his voice was soft, the same as it always was. But his eyes were vulnerable for the first time.

"Yes." I answered, sitting up. His hand fell away, but I took it in mine. It seemed like the right thing to do.

He smiled, and it was the most beautiful thing I had seen in my entire life.

He leaned in lightly kissed my forehead. It was a simple brush of his lips, but it was the most memorable kiss of my life.

"I am yours, and yours alone. I will come for you when the day comes." He told me. He stood up, and with all the grace of a royal courtier he bowed to me and kissed the back of my hand. Then just as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. I knew he was not coming back any time soon. How? No idea. But I just knew. Knowing did not make it any easier on my breaking heart.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer I do not own GA or any of its characters. **

**Thanks a lot for reviewing: **

**Akatsuki Utaou - yep. same but quite different. **

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**sapphireangel09 - no its not a prequel to desert rose. the setting is modern world in this one. **

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**muzikchic4eva - lol, and good guesses. u get some of the back story this time. **

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**bLoOdy wiZaRd O.o - thanks, and yep, its my favorite genre. **

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**Winter's Melody - thanks, and the friend did not inspire the plot. he just made me realize that a guy could drive a girl that desperate without even knowing it :) **

**Smiley0016 - Thanks! I am glad you liked it! **

**snowwingz - you will know what he is in the next chapter. and thanks :) **

**Author Note: I am so sorry it took me this long to update. This should be the second last chapter. **

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

I sat there, feeling numb. I had been filled with such desperation, stretched so thin, and had been fulfilled so suddenly, and now it was all just _gone. _I blinked but the world refused to come back into focus. I realized that I was crying.

No.

Not quite.

Tears were falling from my eyes. My mind had just not caught up to it yet.

He had taken everything with him. My heart, my feelings, and if it existed, then my very soul.

I felt empty, and _broken. _The world had been fractured before I had found him. It had been skewed, wrong, and finding him had set everything right.

Now I was broken. I was _fractured. _Finding him would set everything right. But this time, I could not find him, I had to wait for him. I had to _believe. _

I felt my heart shatter, the numbness vanished and the tears continued.

The pain started.

It was not supposed to hurt like this.

I had known him for an hour. Or less.

That thought just made me hurt more.

Suddenly my bedroom door burst open and Uncle Narumi stood in the doorway.

"Mikan! Are you all right?" He cried out, rushing inside and holding me. He seemed to be looking around as if we were in some kind of danger. That was when I noticed the man who had come in with him. He was checking the window.

"Who is he?" I asked, even as I tried to wipe my tears away. They didn't want to stop, but I would not show weakness in front of someone I did not know.

"He's an old friend of mine. He was visiting when we felt the..." and he stopped, looking guilty and worried.

"When we felt magic. A lot of it." The man said quietly, turning to me. "Someone was here. Who?" His voice was cold. He didn't care about me, and he was not going to waste time pretending.

"He's not coming back." I answered. I was not telling this man anything.

"You have no idea what you are talking about. You were not raised in our ways. Now tell me who was here?" He was suddenly yelling in my face. I had not even seen him move.

I scrambled away from him as fast as I could. My Uncle was not stopping him. He looked like he was going to be sick, _but he was not stopping him. _

"He won't be back. Now go away." I yelled.

He stared at me as if I had grown an extra head.

"You are taking the side of that..." he started, revulsion on his face, and I realized that I had had enough.

"Get out!" I screamed.

He started, as if I had actually slapped him, then with one last glance at me, left the room. Uncle Narumi was still here though.

"Mikan.. please, you must tell us." He pleaded.

I shook my head, unable to say anything anymore.

"Mikan... your mother and I, and therefore you.. come from a bloodline of priests who've been keeping evil in check for thousands of years. I know your mother left, and never told you anything, and I know that when I took you in, I didn't clue you in either, but _please _I need you to tell me what was here." Uncle Narumi said, sincerity shining in his deep blue eyes.

He had had me, until he had called Natsume 'what'.

"He is not coming back, and he will not hurt anyone. Why can none of you understand that?" I asked, and I was close to tears for a different reason now. I hadn't even realized I had stopped crying, until I was ready to cry again.

"I did not want to do this, but you have forced my hand." The man said from the doorway of my room. I whirled around, my eyes narrowing at his hands which were glowing eerily.

"Don't touch me." I said backing away.

"It's for your own good." He said taking a step closer to me. As if that sentence had opened up a floodgate, I felt a presence bubbling up inside me, filled with utmost fury.

"How dare you threaten her? How dare you presume that _he_ is evil? You who have tainted my blood so much that I can hardly tell you are descended from me? Go be self righteous somewhere else, Donovan of the Sakura Clan. Let me tell you, what this child, Mikan, does not. _He_, Natsume, is free of the Wasteland, and roams the Earth once again. None of you are any match for him, and he will burn this world down if you harm this child. Now be gone from my sight!" The words, no, the tirade, came from my mouth, it was my voice even, but the accent was wrong, and so was the intonation.

Not to mention, I knew I was not speaking. This pissed off being inside me was talking, and then, as quickly as she had come, she was gone. I swayed, and clutched the wall for support.

My eyes though never left the real threat in the room.

The man, Donovan Sakura, I suppose, was staring at me as if he had seen a ghost. Then in one fluid motion, he turned and left.

Uncle Narumi stared at me for a moment longer, then after a faint mutter to get some rest, he too left the room. I collapsed on the floor as soon as the door closed behind them.

* * *

><p><p>

It was morning, and I had managed to get absolutely no sleep. I came downstairs to find my Uncle sitting at the kitchen table, books spread all around him. He had obviously been researching all night.

He looked up, and our eyes met. He looked away first, and I started walking towards the front door. I had no idea where I was going to go, but the house was stifling me.

"Mikan, wait!" He called from behind me, and I stopped, but did not turn around.

"Come here, I need to talk to you." He said, and I could hear a note of pleading in his voice.

I turned towards him, but I was hardly agreeing to his request. I opened my mouth to let loose a scathing remark, only to see the lines on his face, and the pain and exhaustion in his eyes. No matter how terribly he had betrayed me last night, he was my only family. With a heavy sigh, I went to him and took a seat across the kitchen table.

"I.." he stopped and visibly collected himself. "I should have old you this when you came to live with me, but your mother had left this life behind her and I did not want to drag you into it. I thought that I should respect her wishes." Uncle Narumi looked bitter.

"I am sorry for doing nothing last night. I can give you any number of excuses but the truth is that I am your guardian and I should protect you, and I failed." He said, and I could see his self directed anger, clear as day.

I opened my mouth, and realized I had nothing to say. No matter what he said, it was not okay, but at the same time, I was not quite mad anymore either. Not at him anyways.

"I did some research." Uncle said, apparently he seemed to understand my feelings from my expression, and had decided to talk into the awkward silence.

"Our family, as you until last night had no idea, is ancient, and has been full of priests and priestesses with supernatural talents. They've been using these talents to help the people and to curb the evil in this world." Uncle took a deep steadying breath.

"Even among people like us, there is a legend that most find hard to believe. _It is about a being who fell in love with a Priestess. She refused him, and kept refusing him, until in her wish to get away from him, she died in an accident. The legend is that he refused to see a world without her and would have destroyed this world if he had not been convinced that she would eventually be born again. Then he sealed himself away, to wait until she herself called him back to the world of the living._ It is a tragic love story and while it is told often, no one actually believes it." Uncle looked me in the eyes. I knew what he was getting at. I knew it, and it was scaring the hell out of me.

"No one really knows if that being was evil or good, or like humans, he can choose his own path. It is also not mentioned anywhere what he is. I realized that the Natsume I met last night, had to be the right person. He came back to your room after he left through the front door." The last sentence was not a question. My Uncle was not a fool, and I did not treat him as one. I just nodded.

He sighed deeply.

"So the legend has to have some basis in truth. From what I could find last night, it is the only legend we have about a reincarnation and a supernatural being. So far, that is what this seems like. I could be wrong, and I could be right. I don't know anymore." He said frustrated.

I nodded and got up to leave.

"Take this." He extended a really old looking book to me.

I took it, but stared at him.

"If you have any powers, this will teach you about them. If you don't, it'll still teach you a lot. At least it'll teach you a lot of unrecorded history." He said quietly. I nodded and left the house.

That was the last time I saw my Uncle. He was gone when I got back, and there was no note. No nothing. I knew he had gone to find answers of his own. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I wasn't sure I cared.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks a lot for the reviews:**

**sapphireangel09 - lol yeah..**

**Kuroichibineko - sorry it took a while.**

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**lukaruka - thanks**

**muzikchic4eva - thanks.. Narumi is just gone for now.**

**natsumelover - i DO remember you! and i am glad to have you back!**

**Lena - live m'dear!**

**Hell-BubbleGum - yes i will continue it. I will never leave a story unfinished if I can help it. and I m sure I can help that much :)**

**Author Note: So I wanted to finish this story in this chapter.. imagine that. The story had other ideas and kicked my ass. So now... sigh. NO clue whats going on. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I BET.. NO ONE saw this coming! OOOH I feel like cackling like a witch! Maybe I will, just to make me happy :P Anyhow, all reviews are welcome, and of course, I do wanna know what everyone thinks of this unexpected chapter :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

**10 Years later:**

I scowled at the huge man in front of me.

"Your ID is fake." He growled.

I thought about arguing with him. I _seriously_ thought about arguing with him, but it had been a long week and I was tired and more importantly I was feeling too lazy for verbal sparring, and the truth of the matter was, the bastard should recognize his own boss. So I snapped my fingers in front of his face to distract him, and sucker punched him in the gut, before vaulting over him and jumping inside. I headed straight to the bar.

Ruka looked straight at me with those impossibly blue eyes, amusement lighting them up. He was six feet two inches of lean muscle, with a head of pure golden hair. I swear he looked like he had stepped out of a Greek mythology movie sometimes, and if not for his olive complexion and longish hair, he would totally rock the ancient warrior look. I had no idea how he always knew when I was going to show up, or what I had been up to, and I had stopped trying to figure it out a long time ago.

I vaulted over the bar and he highfived me, like we were tag team partners in a wrestling match before jumping out over the bar and sitting on one of the stools on the other side. It was around six, and so still too early for the club to be open, and other than the wheezing bouncer who was just now entering, we were alone.

"Ruka stay away from that.." he started, and Ruka started to laugh.

I rolled my eyes. He did this to _everyone_ who started work here.

"Nice to meet you. I am your fucking boss, Mikan Sakura." I told him, and I saw his eyes widen in horror. He was big guy, not as tall as Natsume, but only a few inches shorter. He made up for it in being very well built though. I had long ago given up not comparing every man I met to Natsume. He was my mental scale. No one ever measured up.

Ruka cleared his throat and I glanced at him. He raised his brows and I sighed. He had probably guessed the direction of my thoughts. Apparently I got a certain look in my eyes whenever I thought of Natsume.

I sighed again, and turned back to the new bouncer. With the new guy prank out of the way, he would fit in here just fine. If not, I could always fire him.

"So what's your name?" I asked.

"Mochu." He answered. No last name. I hummed.

"Okay. Cool. Be better at not letting people in, and you really need a crash course in telling a difference between a fake and real ID. Mine was real." I pouted. It was not his fault though. I was twenty eight, and my ID said so. I still looked and felt like I was eighteen. I healed in a quarter of the time it should take me to heal, and sleep and food were both something I could do without for far longer than any regular human.

How did I know the limits of my body?

Simple.

I had pushed myself to those limits, and beyond.

If I had been _just _human, I'd have been long dead. I had searched for Natsume. High and low, madly, with barely any sleep or food, for three years straight after he left me, and had found nothing. I had been nearly dead when Ruka found me. He had taken me in and brought me back from the edge.

He had also told me that my uncle had left me everything before he had vanished that fateful morning after Natsume's little vanishing act.

He had made me put that money to good use and start this nightclub/bar and not just squander it in a useless search for that jerk. The reason I had agreed? He had pointed out that the money would eventually run dry unless I made more of it. I learned to make more of it. Lots more.

**_Moonlight_** was the hottest nightclub in the city and the place to be if you were anyone. I had designed the place myself. The walls were covered in crushed velvet drapes, and the floor was a springy bamboo that allowed for easy movement, and felt classy at the same time, not to mention being good for the acoustics. But it was the bar, behind which I was right now, that was the main accomplishment. All of it had the look of a full moon to it. Hell, if the place was called Ice, you'd think the bar was made of fake ice. It was all sleek glowing silver, and no one had a clue how I had managed to make not just the nearly 70 foot bar, but the whole 20 foot high wall behind it glow as well. The only other lighting in my club was from the paper lanterns I had hung from the ceiling, adding to the eerie luminescence.

The music of course was hardly eerie, but a pulsing beat, and there were booths ringed around the place. When in full swing, there were more then three hundred people in here, plus the staff. Right now though, it was just me, and Ruka as he watched me, and the new bouncer as he shifted uneasily on his feet. Ruka was the manager, the security chief, and basically handled everything in my absence.

Somehow I had never understood why he helped me. What was in it for him? Why he babysat me? After all, he already was super rich, so it was not the money. He was not the charitable sort, so it was not pity for me. We had become friends, but it was after he had initially taken me in. I shrugged the thoughts away. I had never truly understood why he had taken me in when I had most needed help, and I never would. I guess it was a good thing all my curiosity was directed in only one direction.

"Stick around and patrol the club. Break up any fights that start, but try not to hit anyone. That's your job for tonight. We open at 9 so everyone will be here by 7. Do whatever you want till then." I told the new guy, before opening a new bottle of tequila for me. It was my coming home ritual.

Ruka rolled his eyes at me but did not protest when I poured him a shot from another bottle. The new bottle was all mine. Every time I returned from another wild goose chase, I would open a bottle of tequila and finish it that night all by my lonesome. The plan was to some day share it with that bastard Natsume. I was sure I would get a chance _eventually, _since I was also pretty sure that he had made me immortal or something darned close to it.

We clinked the glasses together and drank the tequila down. Ruka pulled a face.

"How do you stand this stuff?"

It was my turn to roll my eyes. How could someone spend almost all his time at a bar, and hate alcohol so much?

* * *

><p>I had been right about the time frame and by 7 almost all of my employees were there. I was greeted with warm smiles and even occasional hugs, but that was it. Most of these people liked me, and almost all of them had been living on the streets or something similar before I had taken them in, but they knew that I was not truly reachable.<p>

I grinned as I saw the waitress outfits for the night though.

"Hot daaaamn." I drawled, giving a once over to one of the girls, making her laugh. She posed for me. Her name was Anna, and she had been a hooker, but she had walked up to me and asked if I would give her the job. I had asked her if she would be on time and meet the standards of my place. So far she had. I liked Anna.

She was dressed as a Miko. A freaking Japanese Priestess, though of course the dress only came partway down her thighs and revealed more skin then it covered and it was so bloody ironic that I was sure I knew whose idea it was. I glanced at Ruka and sure enough, he was watching for my reaction with that amused glint in his eyes. I opened my mouth to give him a smart retort, but somehow I could not say it. Instead I dissolved into laughter.

I could not help it. Honest to God, laughing till tears rolled down my face. Finally, gasping for breath and almost all of my staff thinking I was crazy, well more than usual, I managed to look up enough to glare at Ruka.

He just shrugged. Unapologetic bastard.

It was a good start to the night, and it turned out to be a good night.

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><p>I woke up the next morning in my bedroom with a hangover and a vague memory of Ruka bringing me here. I dragged myself out of bed, not too concerned. He was the only one who knew where I lived. While it was public knowledge that the once high school runaway Mikan Sakura had pulled her life together and become one of the biggest success stories ever as the owner of the nightclub Moonlight, my current personal life was a big blank. No photos existed, and while my staff knew who I was and what I looked like, no journalist had ever managed to get a shot. At the club I worked as an unassuming bartender, and my staff was too damned loyal. Not to mention, one of the perks of Moonlight was that no matter who you were, you could let loose and just be yourself. Whatever happened inside the walls, stayed inside. Most of the time.<p>

So at the end of the day, the fact that I lived in ranch house only down the block from Moonlight was a very well kept secret.

When I felt better, after a shower, an aspirin, two mugs of coffee, and a half a bagel later, I called Ruka. To my surprise, I heard the phone go off in the guest bedroom.

He was still asleep, and not happy with me at being woken up. He was mollified when I offered him coffee in bed though. Everyone likes coffee.

But to my surprise he placed the mug aside after just one sip, grimacing. I knew it was not the coffee. It was Italian roast, and had the right amount of sugar and cream. I had known him for nearly 7 years, and had lived with him for two of those. I knew how he liked his coffee.

He gave me a long look.

"The hangover is gone." He said quietly. It was not a question. He knew how well I healed. A hangover was not that hard to fix, even if garnered by knocking down an entire bottle of tequila in half a night.

I nodded anyways.

He reached to the side where he had thrown his jacket last night and pulled out a small leather bound book from the inner pocket. He held it in his hand carefully, not like it was ancient, which it obviously was, but like it was a ticking bomb.

"Let me tell you a story." He said softly. My throat went dry. This was not going to be good. Ruka was the only one who knew everything about me, and who I was looking for.

"A long while back, a Roman scholar.. well not quite; a Roman noble, who was both warrior and scholar, somehow found himself in the outreaches of what we now call France." Ruka said softly, twirling the book in his hands.

"The man was honourable, and at that time, in that place, it was a rare quality among the Romans. Especially when that honour became the reason to spare the life of a young child who was native to the land."

"Native to the..?" I asked, my voice very soft. I somehow knew that it was wrong to interrupt this story.

"You can say that she was French. A little brat, barely four years old with flashing red eyes and a nasty temper to boot." He told me, and for the first time I realized that maybe I had been to quick to assume that my friend was human like me. Or maybe, I thought wryly, he was human_ just like me._

"But this Roman Noble spared her life, or saved her from other Romans. However you want to look at it. A few days later, he felt someone watching him, and he followed this being into the forest. A foolish action on most days, except that the being owed him a debt of life for sparing the child. Only thing was, the noble had no way of knowing that." Ruka murmured, his gaze faraway.

"The Roman had nothing with him except the clothes on his back, his sword, and his travelling journal. While he stayed in the forest trying to talk to this being, the camp or fort, if you will, was attacked. All Romans were killed." Ruka looked at me then and shrugged as if to say _they had it coming._

"The Roman went back at dusk and realized that his life had been spared on purpose. The being came with him and then went on to lead him to the next Roman camp. He never said a word that entire trip. Nothing, until the Roman was sure that he could not; that he was mute."

"All that changed when they were half a day's journey from the other camp. It was dusk and the being instead of hurrying stopped and made camp. The Roman simply followed the instructions since he knew that the being never did anything without reason."

I raised my hand.

Ruka smiled. "Yes?"

"How did the Roman know he was a being and not just another human?" I asked.

Ruka's smile became a full blown grin. "You'll see."

"So now they made camp and for the first time that being spoke. His voice was like chimes and bells, and yet it was masculine and bold. You know what that means, right?" Ruka looked at me, then went on without waiting for an answer. Yeah I knew. It was a voice I prayed to hear everyday.

"He said his debt would be paid the moment the Roman was safe within the camp. Then he asked if that was what the Roman wanted. And then he offered up a deal. Carry a message, and he would take the Roman all the way to Rome in safety."

I could not stop myself anymore. "Why would Natsume need a Roman to take a message if he was going to go to Rome with him?"

"Because the message was not for anyone in Rome." Ruka said quietly. Then he opened the book he had been so carefully playing with all this time and showed me the last written page. It was all in Latin, old school Latin at that, and I was a novice at reading it, but the last word there was obviously in a different handwriting than the rest and I needed no Latin classes to understand it.

It was my name.

Natsume had needed the Roman to get a message to me.

I looked up at Ruka with wide eyes.

He flicked out a knife and opened the leather binding of the travel journal of the Roman, for I now knew that this was what this book was. A folded sheet of paper fell out of paper of the slit Ruka had made and he handed it to me.

"The journal told the story. The letter is for you." Ruka said quietly before he got up and left. My hands were trembling as I stared at the ancient piece of folded vellum. He had somehow seen the future and sent me a message? How?

Suddenly I did not care as tears spilled down my cheeks. He had cared about me enough to send me a message. He cared.

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><p><em>I stared at the man in front of me as he combed the hair of the little girl I had allowed to live two days ago and I knew he was not human. It was not any one thing about him, but it was a combination of many small thing together that set him apart. That set him as other. His hair fell around him in a silken sheet that would make any woman envious yet I knew instinctively that he cared more about a single strand on that child's head than he did about all his hair.<em>

_I sat down to watch._

_It saved my life._

_He saved my life._

_I travelled with them after that, and they took me to another Roman camp though I knew that there was danger to them. After all anyone could sense that he was other. It bled off his pores, and while the young girl's looks could be pulled off as Roman, her dress and manner were distinctly not Roman._

_I thought he could not or would not speak, until that fateful night when he finally spoke to me._

_"Roman." His voice was nothing like anything I had ever hear before, and I knew I would never forget it._

_"My name is Lucius but I prefer Ruka." I answered, for that was what the little girl called me. Lucius was too hard or too different for her to pronounce._

_He suddenly laughed. "Then I am Natsume, and you already are friends with my daughter Aoi."_

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><p><strong>Author Note: Yep, unlike the rest of the story, the last part (italics) is in Ruka's POV. Just making sure no one gets confused.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

**Mikan's POV: **

I folded the letter back, shivering at the words I had just read.

They were not from the man I loved, they were not from my Natsume. They were from someone else. Someone who knew everything, and someone who had orchestrated it all.

She had done this.

I shivered again, knowing I was wrong.

She had helped. More than a person could ever be expected to. More than a human could be expected to.

I felt the tears slide down my cheeks as I understood everything.

But there was something she had not realized. I was not the only one who needed to see the whole truth. Natsume needed to know it all too. He too needed to understand why she had done everything she had. Why it had been necessary.

I took a deep shuddering breath and closed my eyes.

"Natsume, for ten years I have been looking for you. I forced myself to believe that if I just looked hard enough, I would find you. I never acknowledged the fact that you may not want to be found by me. In all this time, I never just believed that you were watching over me, that you would come if I asked. Now I am. If you can hear me, if you trust me, even a little, then please come here. I have something that you need to see." I said steadily.

"You have grown up milady." He said softly, and my heart stuttered before starting up again at five times its speed. I did not open my eyes.

I tried to speak, only to find that I could not. I cleared my throat, and forced the hoarse words past my choked throat.

"The letter, Natsume."

"It is not for me. It was never for me. My task was something entirely different." He answered, and his voice held a cold edge now. I wanted to open my eyes and look at him, but somehow I knew that if I did, he would leave.

"You went to a place where you could hide your daughter. The man, Lucius, became her protector, and you made him immortal, the same way you have made me immortal, so he could take care of her for a very long time, when you realized that instead of hiding for a little while, which is what you had come there to do, you had to leave her behind." I whispered.

I heard his sharp intake of breath.

"I was given instructions and told to open each letter every night, at midnight. The last letter told me to leave my daughter behind, when she knew that Aoi was the most precious to me." Natsume said coldly. I shivered at the anger in his tone. He had not forgiven. Not even after so much time had passed, he had not forgiven her.

"Read the letter. She wanted to tell me everything, but you deserve to know her reasons as well." I said softly.

"She should have told me herself." He answered stubbornly.

My eyes snapped open and he was gone like a smoky haze on a hot day.

"She died for you! Would you not even let her tell you why?" I shouted in frustration and pain.

Then I felt a breath on the side of my face, and a brush of cool fingers against my cheek. Before I could turn, it was gone, and so was the letter. I collapsed on the bed, too drained to even cry, to do anything. I did not notice when the bedroom door opened and Ruka entered, but I could do nothing to stop him when he slid next to me and cradled me close, offering me silent comfort.

* * *

><p><strong>Normal POV: <strong>

Natsume stood on the beach, letting the icy cold water of the waves touch his feet and then retreat.

"You should read it." Said a soft voice from behind him. He did not turn.

"She loved us. Even I remember that much. You should give her a chance." The voice continued.

"She told me you were in danger. She knew I could only travel time once. Only once. She still sent me to that time to find Ruka, and then, in the instructions she only revealed to me bit by bit, she finally told me to leave you behind. You grew up without her, and without me." Natsume's voice was harsh, but she could hear the pain underneath.

"I only grew up without you because you chose to give in to your pain and stay in the Wasteland. I have lived well and this is not about me. We both know it. You love me father, but you love her more. Far more." Aoi said softly as she finally came to stand in front of her father.

She was five feet nine with skin the color of pale gold and piercing eyes exactly like her father. Her hair was long and fell down to her waist in cascading russet waves. She was stunning, and she knew it, but it was not something that mattered when she spoke with her father.

Natsume stared at his daughter for a long while before he let out a frustrated sigh.

"All the women in my life are conspiring against me." He said forlornly, but Aoi had seen the smile tugging at his lips.

"So Mikan is in your life now? Should I let her know? I am sure she'd be delighted by the news." Aoi said with a sarcastic lift of her well shaped brow.

Natsume suddenly laughed.

"You may look like me brat, but you are entirely too much like your mother." He told her, and she smiled.

"You will read it?" she asked though she already knew the answer.

"Of course, but only if she wanted me to. You know that she could make changes that would prohibit me from reading something I was not supposed to." Natsume answered.

Aoi nodded. "She'd have allowed it. She loved you more than anything else."

Natsume smiled and shook his head. "No Aoi. She loved _you _more than anything else." There was no heat in his words and before Aoi could reply, he was gone.

She sighed and wished again that she could hide in Ruka's arms. He would promise her that the world would be a better place tomorrow and every time she would believe him, even if he was lying, and they both knew it. They had been together for the past fifteen hundred years, and had only separated when it had become obvious that Mikan would die in her search for Natsume if no one took care of her. Since she was bound to see the similarities between Aoi and Natsume, Ruka had volunteered. It was all good, except that Aoi now missed him.

She only hoped that this letter would make her father see sense. She had found it years ago when she had gone to her birthplace to pay respects to her mother. It had been carefully hidden in a way that no one but her would have found it. Then she had kept it hidden, not wanting to know what it said.

Until recently when she had finally read the letter. It was addressed to Mikan, but it was meant for them all and she knew it. So she had made sure that Mikan recieved it, and then just as she had expected, Mikan had insisted on her father reading it. Good. Now maybe finally her father would move on and give himself a chance to love and live again.

* * *

><p>Natsume stared at the letter in his hands and sighed.<p>

Mikan wanted him to read this.

Aoi wanted him to read this.

He... He whispered her name. He just wanted her.

Then he opened the letter and began to read.

_Dearest Mikan, _

_You do not know me, and you never will, but we have something in common. Natsume. _

_I need to tell you exactly how he came to be where he was when he found you, and why it is that he is such a fool. _

_Natsume is the only one. His father is an angel and his mother is a demon, and unlike any other union of this sort, he was born out of love. It makes him unique, able to choose his own destiny, and more powerful than any of the other beings who choose to make the mortal plain their home. But that meant that he was always alone, and no one ever knew what he is truly like. _

_Then he met his wife. A woman he loved with a wild abandon, for whom he would have destroyed the world, for she saw him as he was, even through the bonds of her Priestess hood. Yet, she was more than just a priestess. She was also a Seer, one of the most powerful Seer's to ever exist. _

_In her seventh year of marriage to Natsume, she saw her own future. She saw her death, and the death of her daughter. She could see only one way to save her daughter, and so she made Natsume go into the future, to a place of her choosing, and take their only child, their daughter Aoi, with him. _

_She knew that Natsume could only travel through time once. Just once, and he had never done so. But now she convinced him to go, because the life of their baby depended upon it. She gave him letters with instructions, and she told him to open one letter every night. He agreed to everything, because he trusted her. Blindly. _

_Natsume went to the outreaches of a nation known as Rome, and there he left Aoi alone, until a warrior saved her life. This warrior was going to be her protector, her everything. Then the journey began in which Natsume came to trust the warrior and at the end of the journey, the last letter he opened, told him that he was to return without Aoi. That he was to leave her with Lucius. _

_Still he trusted her, and he left his daughter behind. After all, Aoi was in the future not the past, and he could come and find her. Natsume came back, and he found it all gone. Destroyed. His wife had loved him more than everything, but not more than she had loved her daughter. She could see the future, and so she had seen her death looming at the hands of fanatics who would kill her for loving an immortal, but she had also seen that they would murder her child. _

_She knew it was fate she could not change. Either she, or Aoi would die. She chose her death over that of her daughter. She knew Aoi would not be safe in her time, and she knew that after she died, Natsume might not be able to care for her. So she had her sent to her soul mate. A roman warrior, whom Aoi would probably have never met if not for the interference of her mother. _

_In doing so, she destroyed the heart of her own soul mate. When Natsume came back, all he found was blood stained walls. She was dead. His grief was a terrible thing. He wanted to destroy everything, the whole world that had taken his love from him, and as much as I agreed with him, as much as I hated myself for it, I had to stop him. _

_So I used all the powers I had, to bind him in the Wasteland. He could leave anytime he wanted to, but he chose to stay. I still remember his words to me. _

_He told me that he could not bear to look at a world that did not have her in it. He said he would not look at the sky again, until she called him. Until she claimed him as her own once more. _

_Then I told him the last truth. The future that had been seen too late to place in any of her letters. _

_The future in which she would be born again as you. _

_Soul mates always find each other. _

_I left him, and I am writing this letter in the last moments of my life. It took a lot to bind him, even though he was more than willing. Someday this letter will find it's way to you, of that I am sure. And that will make it worthwhile to use my last breath talking about the fool who married my sister. _

_He needs you Mikan. He always has and he always will. He is just too stubborn to see good sense. I should have protected her for him, but it was fated for her to die, and Aoi to be by Lucius's side. I know she loved him, but half her sight was in the future and she only loved him as much as she could love anyone. You already love him more than life itself. _

_I cast a spell upon the blood of the priests in that valley. I knew she would be born in that line. Once the soul of my brother's wife was reborn, if she was ever in danger, that is, if you are ever in danger, then, I may speak through you, protect you, but when you become immortal, I will be gone forever. _

_Natsume will never forgive me. His wife was not the only one who could see the future. I could too, and I was even more powerful than my younger sister. He will never believe me when I say that there was no way to save both my sister and my niece. In the end, I made the same decision as her, and placed Aoi above my own sister's life. _

_But I do hope that now that you are alive again, even if you are different, you two find the happiness denied to you before. Especially since you are not cursed with being a Seer again, my dearest sister. _

_Oh and always remember, to have Natsume come to you, all you have to do is call. He is always listening to you. _

_Blessed be!_

_Hotaru_

Natsume placed the pages away. He knew who it was. He had not needed to read her name to know it. He could still see her tear filled deep violet eyes and short raven hair as she had spoken to him one last time. As she had told him about Mikan.

He remembered the pain in her expression as she had chained him, because she knew he had meant his word. She had known he would not even look up until he was called by the one he loved. Hotaru had been his closest friend until she had betrayed him.

Natsume sighed.

She had chosen.

Aoi over Kaya.

Natsume stopped. So many years, but only now could he say her name.

He realized for the first time that he did not regret anymore.

Ruka had kept Aoi happy. Always.

And no matter what, he had Mikan now, and he was willing to forget and forgive about his pain, since the ones he loved had come out unscathed. Even he could not bear the thought of losing Aoi. He was glad of the decision that had been made. He only wished they had allowed him to try to save both his wife and daughter. He wished that they had trusted him with the truth.

Yet, he now understood why Mikan had wanted him to read this.

For the first time since he had held the broken and dead body of his wife Kaya, Natsume began to heal his heart, and he started to forgive.

He started to feel the hope he had not allowed to touch his heart when he had left the Wasteland and found Mikan.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the reviews:**

**Kylee-cat**

**Serenity012**

**sapphireangel09**

**Lena**

**Author Note: Thanks for all the reviews. I am sorry for not having all the names here, but as I keep on saying, my internet is highly unpredictable these days, so I gotta hurry. BTW, this is the last chapter of Fractured.**

**Next chapter will be the epilogue.**

**Oh, and I am sorry it took me so long to update :(**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

**Mikan's POV:**

I was stretched out on the bar with a bottle of tequila in my hand. Well, calling it tequila was harsh... it was heaven, bottled, and available as a salve for my broken and trampled and _broken_ heart. I had just opened my second bottle. I needed to get hammered to bury the pain. How many times did a bastard have to leave me for me to get it that he was not _into _me? I finally had.

For all his 'milady', he had left me, and never looked back. Hadn't come when I had nearly died.

"Bastard!" I spat.

"I assure you my parents were wed." Ruka told me soberly from his perch on the bar near my hip. He was holding a bottle of 12 year old Jack Daniels and his was half empty. For a guy who hardly ever drank, he could knock it back when he wanted to.

"Not you. _Him_." I slurred, getting up on my elbows to take another gulp of the smooth heaven in a bottle I was holding.

"Ah... the man we are not naming?" he asked archly.

At least we were over the Harry Potter jokes. Thank GOD! You-know-who gets old after a while.

"Bastard." I affirmed.

"Hummm. I am not sure about his parents." Ruka murmured thoughtfully. I smacked him. He was not taking my misery seriously.

Suddenly I grinned as an excellent idea struck me. "Ruka, does he care for me, or does he not?"

"Is that a trick question?" Ruka asked suspiciously.

I waved a hand, sloshing some of the tequila, but I didn't care. I owned the place after all.

"If he does, then I know just how to punish him, and if he doesn't, then I know how to finally drill it through my thick skull. Not to mention, it'll be the perfect way to celebrate a breakup." I said, swinging my feet off the bar.

"What are you planning?" Ruka asked, jumping off and coming to stand in front of me.

My grin got wider. "You know that new strip club that opened that _everybody _and their brother has been recommending to me?" I asked jumping off the bar as well. I swayed but kept my feet.

"God no!" Ruka snapped.

I laughed. "I've been celibate for ten years for a man who couldn't gimme the time of the day. High time I got some." I ignored the sharp pain in my heart and laughed again. "I am definitely starting slumming, and I know _just _the place to start."

"HELL NO!" Someone roared and my head whipped around to see why the heck was Ruka overreacting like this, only to come face to face with Natsume.

He looked furious as all get out. So he _did _care.

Well then.

"What? You have a problem with that? Should have thought of that before you left me. _You left me._ Now, I am done waiting." I snapped. Let him find out what chasing felt like for a change.

"Mikan." He growled.

I raised my brows. "Sell that someplace where someone gives a damn, boy. I am not scared of you." I snapped my fingers in front of his face, and he looked so stunned that I laughed, this time in genuine amusement.

"Uh.. Mikan.." Ruka seemed worried but I was still high from the tequila and from my anger. The bastard had taken the letter yesterday, and yet he had not returned. Hadn't replied. Had said nothing, except return the letter after a few hours. Oh yeah, he was in so deep, he should be choking on it.

"I think I'll walk there Ruka. It's only two blocks." I said, eyes on Natsume, daring him to stop me.

I saw him open his mouth, but he closed it. Pity. I would have liked to verbally murder him some more.

Then I strode off. I had a strip club to visit.

To my chagrin, both men followed me. Of course I ignored them, but two, taller then six feet of pure muscle which was that hot drew a lot of eyes. Whatever.

Not that I wanted to scratch out anyone's eyes who looked at the black haired bastard behind me. Not at all.

Most of tequila was burned from my system by the time I got to the club and I was scowling angrily.

The bouncer wanted to ID me, of course, and I heard a discreet cough behind me that told me that Natsume was trying to cover his laugh. Laugh, _would he_?

I reached up and yanked the bouncer down by his shirt and kissed the living daylights out of him.

When I released him, his gaze was out of focus and he looked like he would do anything for me. I grinned.

"Tell your boss Mikan Sakura is here and he better live up to his reputation." Then I walked right past him.

I did not need to look behind me to feel the black rage coming off Natsume. Ha!

I was halfway to a table I had decided on when he grabbed my arm, whirled me around and yanked me into his arms.

"You shouldn't have done that." He hissed through gritted teeth.

I looked into his flashing eyes and said the words that had been staring me in the face that night ten years ago.

"If you cared, you should not have left. If you cared, I should not have had to pick the pieces of my heart so many times that even I do not recognize it anymore. If you cared, you should have been there when I nearly died looking for you. If you fucking cared, you should have COME BACK TO ME LAST NIGHT!" I was yelling in his face.

Disgusted with him, with myself for letting him get to me, I ripped myself out of his grip and stomped to the table I had initially picked out. He came and sat on one side, and Ruka settled himself on my other side. I glanced at him to find his mouth set in a grim line.

"Mikan!" A cheery voice called and I looked up to see one of my friends, Koko. He was the manager of the place and had been telling me for a long time to come visit.

I reached over Ruka to hug him and then kiss him on both his cheeks. Koko grinned at me, then proceeded to check out the men with me. He was gay, and totally not shy about it. In fact, one of my most fun afternoons had been spent with him in a mall while he rated men on a scale of one to ten, with snarky comments.

Ruka nodded to him.

Koko grinned back. He knew Ruka liked his personal space, and that was that.

"Who's the hottie?" he asked with a nod at Natsume. Natsume looked back at him, his face impassive.

"You know how I was looking for someone?" I asked and his eyes widened in understanding.

"_Damn Girl!" _Koko breathed, giving Natsume another slow once over, and I saw a small smile tug at the corner of Natsume's mouth. _Jerk._

"No. He's only here coz apparently while I am not good enough for him, he thinks I should still stay faithful." I said coldly, Out of the corner of my eye, I say Natsume face grow cold. Good.

Koko's eyes widened. He glanced at Natsume's stony face, then at me, then at the furious scowl Ruka was wearing.

Then he smirked. He had not become manager by being a pushover.

"I have a better idea than you getting a lap dance, darling. How would you like to be on stage?" he asked me with an absolutely wicked grin. I laughed. He knew me so well. Or maybe he just understood pissed off women.

"Mikan." Natsume's voice was soft, but the warning was clear. He so should not have done that.

I gave a feral grin to Koko, before turning to Natsume, bending down and cupping his face in my hands.

"You should not have said that. You're old baby, you should have remembered this. Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned." I whispered against his lips before straightening.

He sat there stunned, as if I had slapped him.

Let him stew on that. I slipped around Ruka and headed off with Koko. I had a strip performance to prepare for. Neither man tried to stop me.

* * *

><p>I was on stage, dancing to a slow beat all my own, my body undulating, thrumming to it. I stripped, of course, but I was a customer, playing stripper, and everyone knew that. Whatever I took off, was more than enough.<p>

I laughed when I was twirled around like a ballerina, and then given away to another dancer, sans my shirt.

I looked everywhere, at everyone, but _him. _I could feel his eyes on me like a physical caress, but I was stubborn enough to not look at him, to make myself look into the eyes of the dancers on stage with me. Male and female, half dressed, almost naked, and yet, _he _was more attractive, the _most_ attractive.

I shivered, my pale skin breaking out in goose bumps, and suddenly I was enfolded in warm arms, my back against a hard chest. I did not look up, did not look behind me.

"You'll just leave me again." I told him softly.

He jumped down from the stage, holding me tightly in his arms. His heart was pounding in his chest. Good. His calm was a facade. Very good.

I closed my eyes. Let him take me where he wanted to. Leave me if he wanted to. Despair welled inside me. I could not keep him. You could not chain love. You could not bind it.

If he wanted to leave, then he was free to go. It was my own heart that had chained me ten years ago, and even now I was shackled, just as surely as he had been shackled in the wasteland. A tear slid out from under my closed eyelid and down my cheek. It did not fall on my chest, or my arms that I had crossed under his. It must have fallen on his arms where they held me to him, because he stiffened.

"Mikan." His voice was soft. I did not open my eyes. I could not say anything to him. I had done this to myself and I could not blame it all on him.

He turned me around in his arms, until I was pressed into his embrace. One of his hands cupped the nape of my neck and gently pressed my face closer in gesture of comfort, and his other hand was splayed on my lower back, holding me close.

I was passive. My fight was gone. I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. For him to leave me again. I would not open my heart again, allow him in, only to have it shattered all over again.

"I love you." He murmured softly into my hair.

A small sound came from me, but other than that I gave him no reaction. None at all.

"Look at me." He whispered, but it was not an order. He was begging.

I opened my eyes. We were in an office. Probably Koko's office. I would not meet his eyes.

"Look at me, love." He pleaded, and I met his eyes, knowing that nothing but pain will come for me out of this.

"You are right. Everything you accused me of, correct. I do not deserve it, but will you give me another chance, milady? Will you try to forgive me?" He asked, his eyes sincere, and earnest, oh so earnest.

"Ten years." I told him softly.

His eyes became shadowed. "I thought I was punishing myself. By staying away from you, I was giving you a chance to grow up into the woman you have become, and punishing myself in my failure to protect you. In truth, I was punishing you for something you never did."

I felt tears fill my eyes. I knew what that admission must have cost him, and I knew that if he realized as much, maybe, _just maybe, _he was truly back in my life for good.

"And now?" I whispered.

"I realize that I love you more than anything else in the world." He pressed a gentle kiss to my temple.

"Why didn't you come back last night?"

"I was agonizing over what to say to you and time flew. And when I did gather my courage and my words, and arrived there, you were drunk and talking about a strip club."

"If you leave again..." I started but he cut me off with a shake of his head.

"I won't. I give you my word." He said solemnly, and I _believed_ him. Maybe it was stupid, maybe I was just masochistic, but I really did believe him.

Slowly I reached up and took his face in my hands. Now there was none of the vindictiveness of before, only love, and I slowly pulled him down into a kiss. When we parted, I stared at him.

"Mine. By all that I hold sacred, you are mine, and don't you ever dare forget it." I said fiercely, but he did not flinch away. No, I saw something just as fierce as what I felt upon his face.

"Yours. I've always been yours." He told me just as fiercely, right before he pulled me to him in a scorching kiss.

I decided then that I would forgive him, and I would move on in life with him at my side. He was mine, and everything else I could handle.


	6. Epilogue

**Thanks for all the reviews: **

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**QuietShadowz - no its not a sequel, but a stand alone. It just ended up having touches from my other fics, as well as being a teeny bit confusing. **

**anon - lol thanks. You say that, and i end up writing a tiny epilogue. oh irony. **

**Author Note: So, thanks to everyone who reviewed my story, added it as a favorite or even as an alert. I am so glad that people read my work. **

**Its not related to any of my other stories, but it does somehow have have touches from them. Still, its a standalone. **

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue: <strong>

Mikan stood at the crumbling stone altar, clad in a simple white gown made of the finest silk and embroidered all over with images of trees and flowers. Natsume stood in front of her, dressed in a white suit, his vest embroidered to match her dress.

Ruka cleared his throat, to make them look at him, rather than each other.

"At this sacred altar, do you, Mikan Sakura, take this man, Natsume Hyuuga, to be your husband for the rest of your lives?"

"Yes." Mikan answered. They had chosen together to change the vows to 'the rest of their lives' rather than the previous 'till death do us part' at her insistence.

"At this place of worship, untouched by any ill or lies, do you Natsume Hyuuga, take this woman, Mikan Sakura as your wife for the rest of your lives?"

"Yes."

Natsume raised her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckled before slipping a wedding ring studded with diamonds on her finger. Mikan smiled, tears shining in her gaze, before flipping his hand over and slipping a male version of the same band on his finger.

"You are now bound in matrimony." Ruka intoned, making Mikan grin.

"What happened to kiss the bride?" she asked.

"That comes now." Natsume told her before proceeding to do just that. Mikan was laughing when he let her go to catch her breath.

"I'm scarred for life." Aoi muttered to Ruka with a fake pout, since he had left the altar and come to her side.

He wrapped an arm around his wife, chuckling. "Want me to kiss you and make it better?"

"Then father will be scarred for life as well. I am not that vengeful. Yet." She said haughtily, even though she did reach up and kiss his cheek.

Ruka shook his head, and turned to congratulate the new couple that was finally done making out, and stepping off the altar.

"Congratulations." He and Aoi said at the same time.

"Gratitude." Natsume answered.

"Thanks a lot!" Mikan beamed, and then they grinned at the dissimilarities of their responses.

"Now let's go to have a party!" Mikan said happily.

Natsume nodded, and then with one final look at the crumbling remains of a temple of a bygone era that was now hidden in the middle of a forest, they vanished only to appear in a suite above Mikan's club where the huge reception was taking place.

**...**

"I still can't believe I'm married." Mikan murmured as she danced with Natsume, her arms wrapped around his neck, and her head resting on his shoulder.

"I'll keep reminding you."

"Good."

Natsume chuckled, and she reached up and kissed his throat.

"I have a wedding present for you." He said softly, tilting her head up so that he could look her in the eyes.

"Yes?"

Natsume uncurled her arm from around his neck and held her hand in his until she could see her wedding ring glittering in the muted light.

Mikan raised a brow.

"I placed a spell on it. It has a core of magic in it, and it will keep recharging itself from me. The most basic thing it will do is to protect you as a shield from physical or magical harm."

Mikan waited. She knew there was more.

Natsume smiled self depreciatingly.

"It allows you to call me to your side. No matter where I am, the moment you think of me, and want me next to you, I'll be instantly teleported at your side. No more running away, love. Never from you."

Mikan knew that tears had slipped down her cheeks, but she could not say a word, even though she had so much to say. So many ways to tell him that she loved him, that she forgave him, that she trusted him. He seemed to understand, and his bright smile made her heart soar.

"Love you, wife. Now I'll prove it to you."

"You just did." Mikan's smile was as bright as his, and just as full of promises for the future yet to come.


End file.
